Shaking up Spin

Let's see how far he gets in the coming year.

SPIN has been circling the drain for several years, and if it's not entirely Editor Sia Michel's fault then I would be interested in knowing who gets the blame.

Editorially, the magazine continues to slump: Under Hill and Michel's reign, we've seen covers with Kurt Cobain--an icon but hardly trendy or hip as the magazine aspires to, the Vines--who released a D.O.A. album hosted by possibly the most annoying frontman ever, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (twice), Morrissey--whose commerical relevance ended in the 80s, the Beastie Boys--following a string of "mature" albums went AWOL for four years, the Hives--another D.O.A. album that has gone positively nowhere, and Coldplay--multiplatinum, non-hip band. If the cover signifies hipness a la the overrated Dizzee Rascal and the Streets (two acts who still have no prayer of breaking big in the U.S.), then why doesn't Hill back up his bravado and start pimping something from the streets or college radio?

It was bad enough watching SPIN struggle with identity in 2003--every vain attempt to mimic Blender screamed with desperation--but with the wishy-washy editorial year that the magazine is closing out, not many people think that SPIN is returning to it's red-headed stepchild roots.

That said, the increase in ad pages is a cause for hope, if only because it means the magazine is on more stable financial footing. But at what cost did this increase in pages come? The cynical would point to a lack of market leadership instead of original editorial content.

We hope things will get better, but we have a sneaking suspicion that, like the old lady Rolling Stone, SPIN is doomed to mediocrity.